The Articles and Covenants

The Articles and Covenants is a title that has been given to the 20th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. For those of you unfamiliar with my religion, the Doctrine and Covenants is a book of revelations given during the early years of the church. Most of these revelations were given to Joseph Smith Jr. I will admit that section 20 is one of those sections I used to silently complain about when I reached it. It was 6 pages long, which is really quite long in comparison to other sections. I have finally realized why this section is so long and why the material in it is so important.

The material in section 20 is split into 3 main sections. The first part is a short history of the restoration of the Church. It covers, in barely a page, the first vision of Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. The next part covers the basic doctrines of the church. This part mentions the basics of what we believe. Things that are specifically mentioned include the creation, fall, atonement, baptism, and repentance. The final part is basically a handbook of instructions. It teaches the duties of different church callings. I consider this part to be kind of like a FAQ for new leaders in the church. It provides answers to questions that would have been very frequently asked when the church was first restored.

This section is so important because it explains to a person, in only 6 pages, the basic history, doctrine, and organization of the church. It was the section that early missionaries were commanded to bring with them when preaching the gospel so that they would know how to set up the church in new areas. I find it to be a lot like a summary, it mentions a whole lot of different things in a short space of time and can be very useful. Of course, a summary is most helpful when the rest of the book has also been read.